Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires 22,335 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,335 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.28% of VeriSign worth $76,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 56.5% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Monday, hitting $254.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 41,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 864,897. The stock has a market cap of $23.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.90%.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.24, for a total value of $1,416,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 489,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,628,702.36. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 48,539 shares of company stock worth $12,990,759 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.